CATS and pregnancy

Question
Question 1 - If have a 2 year 6 month old GSD bitch who has a nice tempremant towards people albeit still a little giddy, but she has a very high prey drive from what i can tell. She has never intergrated with my two cats and goes bonkers when she see's any cat dog rabbit etc. If she catches one she is intent on nuzzling and sniffing till they run then the game is on. Is there a good method of integration at this stage?

Question 2. the same bitch was mated with 64 day period due 15/10/06 She is showing little or no sign of pregnancy. It appeared to be a good mate with an 18 minute tie observed throughout. She is becoming a bit more clingy but has little teet development i believe that her ribs are more rounded but difficult to tell when i see her all the time. Other than ultrasound and xray how else would i confirm pregnancy other than waiting it out. I need to plan time off for the whelping period.

Answer
Hi Mike,

Question 1:  use a spray bottle with water to spray her whenever she goes after the cats. At the same time, tell her no.  If straight water doesn't work, add in some white vinegar. Normally a 75/25 water/vinegar combination works pretty good.  Get a spray bottle with good distance on it, and have several of them around so you can grab one quickly.

Question 2:  First off gestation is 63 days.  Also if it is her first pregnancy, she will hold the pups way up under her ribs, so a lot of times there will be no signs.  You can look for the vulva to still be swollen.  Sometimes that is a good sign they are pregnant.  Was she only bred once?  How long the tie was doesn't matter.  That is just how long it takes for the male's gland to go down. That is affected by how much pressure she puts on him too.  It doesn't affect the amount of sperm passed between the two, nor the potency of the sperm.  Hopefully you bred her more than once.  A stud should give you 3 services to be fair for the price of a stud service.  

Hope this helps, and good luck.


Dawn